


You Are Not A Machine

by Turtle4you



Category: Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 17:06:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5974954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turtle4you/pseuds/Turtle4you
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maxie pushes himself too far with his self destructive behaviors. Is this time too far?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

”Sir, maybe you should take a break.”

”Thank you for your concern, Tabitha, but I assure you I’m fine.”

Tabitha sighed. This was the third day in a row he’d found Leader Maxie in the same place as he’d left him the night before: staring at his laptop. The only difference was the amount of coffee cups that were littered around his desk and floor had increased.

”Well, sir, maybe you should at least get out a bit.” Maxie shot him a glare.

”I mean” Tabitha said nervously, “anyone with your vast intelligence would know that such an extended period of inactivity is bad for one’s health. If you value what you’re working on, you owe it to yourself to be at peak condition when working on it.”

Maxie paused, looked at the screen, clicked a few buttons, then closed the lid. “Congratulations, Tabitha, you’ve convinced me. I suppose a walk would be in order. I need to visit Lavaridge for some supplies anyway. You shall accompany me.”

”That sounds lovely, sir. I’m honored.”

They walked in silence for a while. Maxie lit a cigarette and finished it quickly before lighting another. Tabitha coughed whenever the smoke blew in his direction. Growing up in a house full of smokers and having a slight case of asthma never did well for his tolerance. 

”Does this bother you?” Maxie said extinguishing the second and lighting a third.

”No, sir.” He lied “Just, uh, a lot of ash today.”

”Yes,” Maxie exhaled another puff, “I suppose we can only attribute it to our activity. Once we find Groudon, though, the amount of ash expelled from Mount Chimney will dwarf any effect we thought we had.” Maxie chuckled as he lit a fourth.

As they descended Mount Chimney, they discussed a variety of topics from the grunt ranking system to the new recipes the kitchen was trying (and rather failing). Tabitha enjoyed having some time to talk with his boss. It was usually ‘work, work, work’. As they reached the three-quarter mark, Maxie was breathing rather heavy. 

”Tabitha... Huff huff... Please slow down.” Maxie panted.

”Oh, I apologize sir! Maybe we should rest a moment.”

”Yes, that would be desirable.” Maxie breathed. 

They sat down on some of the cleaner rocks by the path. Maxie looked paler than usual. “Ugh...”

”What is it, sir?”

“What is it, sir?” Tabitha asked. 

“I suppose I have been working a little too much lately.” he said taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, “My vision is blurry and I’m rather dizzy.”

“Maybe you should eat something.” Tabitha suggested “Isn’t there a café you enjoy in Lavaridge? We could grab lunch after getting the supplies you need.”

“Thank you, Tabitha, but I’d rather get back to work as soon as possible.” He said lighting his sixth cigarette.

“Sir, that’s quite a few cigarettes. Shouldn’t you slow down?” Tabitha asked.

“It is a few more than usual but I’ll be satisfied for the rest of the day.” Maxie answered as he stood. “I can work with far fewer breaks.”

“I suppose that’s wise.” Tabitha mumbled. “Are you sure we shouldn’t rest a while more, sir? You don’t look well…”

Maxie swayed a bit “Believe me, Tabitha, the sooner these errands are complete and I can get back to work, the better I will feel.”

Lavaridge was within sight as they reached the base of Mount Chimney. ‘If he could only see what he’s doing to himself!’ Tabitha thought. ‘I can’t even remember the last time I saw him eat something… If he continues this he might develop some real health problems. Maybe if I can get him a little hungry?’

“Oh, sir, if you’re interested, I’ve found some different recipes for—” Tabitha stopped dead in his tracks as he saw his boss fall into a dead faint. Tabitha raced over and fell beside him. “Sir! Sir, can you hear me?! Sir, please, wake up!” Tabitha shook the magma boss over and over. He frantically picked up his Pokenav and dialed the sick bay. “Yes! You need to get to the base of Mount Chimney! Leader Maxie’s collapsed!”


	2. Chapter 2

Arceus, how Tabitha hated the infirmary. It was far too bright and smelled like rubbing alcohol. Not only that, a stomach bug had been going around and no matter how sanitary the staff assured him that the place was, he still had his doubts. Tabitha silently cursed himself. He knew Leader Maxie looked ill and still pushed his limits. At the very least, Maxie was getting rest. The seat he was in groaned as he shifted to a more comfortable position. This was going to be a long day.

***

It’d been a few hours since Maxie had collapsed. Tabitha had had to leave the infirmary to attend to the day to day activities of Team Magma. With Leader Maxie incapacitated, all the leadership duties fell to Tabitha. The scientists had to be updated with the latest findings, progress at Meteor Falls, Lillycove, and Route 113 checked, field teams to be tracked, spies in Team Aqua checked on, not including Tabitha’s own duties! At this point, he was starting to understand Leader Maxie’s need for coffee. And how much he would need it to finish today.

He walked to one of the break rooms and started brewing a pot. The room was almost empty with most grunts being at dinner. ‘Wait, dinner?’ Tabitha thought 'Have I almost worked through dinner?! The last time I checked the clock, it was 3!’ He glanced to the digital clock on the wall: 6:45.

“No wonder Leader Maxie forgets to eat…” he and his stomach grumbled.

“There… you are.” A robotic voice said behind him. “I didn't… see you at… dinner.”

“Hello, Courtney.” Tabitha greeted the other admin “I apologize; I’ve been caught up with work all day.” And I still have so much more to do, he added silently.

“Here”, she said holding up a biscuit, “ I thought you… might want this.”

“Thank you, Courtney.” Tabitha took the biscuit, poured a cup of the now ready coffee, and moved to the couch. He sighed as his muscles unwound themselves for the first time since he’d woken up that morning.

“Did… Leader Maxie give you…a special assignment?” She asked as she moved to sit next to him.

“Not exactly…” he answered. He dunked the biscuit into his coffee and took a bite. “Leader Maxie is, uhh, taking a break so I’m completing his work for him today.”

Courtney stared at him with her melancholy gaze. “Leader Maxie would never… take a break for an… entire day. What’s really… going on?”

Tabitha sighed. There never really was keeping secrets from Courtney.

“Very well. I suppose I can’t keep it from you forever.” He paused trying to find the words. “Leader Maxie is in the infirmary. We went for a walk this morning and he collapsed. As far as I know, he’s still in there; I’ve been far too busy with his duties to check up on him.”

“Then… let’s go right now.” She said standing.

“I’d love to but I have to get everything else done first.” He said standing to pour another cup. “Besides, I don’t want to disturb him if he’s resting.”

“Tabitha, it will take… approximately 20 minutes for that particular brand of coffee to… take effect. You’ll have just enough… time to see Leader Maxie. Now… come along.” She gripped Tabitha’s arm and pulled him out of the break room. Tabitha wanted badly to protest but the thought of a break, even if for 20 minutes, was too tempting. They walked in silence to the sick bay and knocked. One of the nurses-in-training answered.

“Is Leader Maxie… in here?” Courtney asked.

The nurse’s face became grave. “Yes, he is. You two can see him but nobody else.”

An icy feeling trickled into Tabitha’s stomach. What on Earth could be wrong with Leader Maxie? They walked along the brightly lit corridor to one of the private rooms.

“You both need to do your best to remain quiet.” she stated as she unlocked the door.

They were greeted by the strong smell of rubbing alcohol. Tabitha shuddered; too many memories of shots when he was a child came flooding through his mind. But that wasn’t important now. Leader Maxie was important now. A heavy red curtain was drawn around where the hospital bed was. In a chair at the supply station was Dr. Brody. Maxie paid good money for one of the smartest doctors in Hoenn to be Team Magma’s private doctor. Usually young-looking and upbeat, Dr. Brody had a dark look about him.

“Mr. Tabitha. Miss Courtney.” he respectfully greeted.

“What’s wrong with Leader Maxie?” Tabitha asked quickly.

Dr. Brody sighed. “It’s not… Well I shouldn’t say that… It's…” he sighed again.

Tabitha’s hands balled into fists. “What’s wrong with Leader Maxie?” he said a little more angrily.

“Easy, easy. I’m just trying to find a nice way to say this.” The doctor stated. “Here, sit down.” he gestured to a similar chair from this morning.

Tabitha sat and leaned towards the man. The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose.

“First of all,” he said after a minute, “I want to commend you, sir, for your quick thinking and action this morning. You’ve easily saved Leader Maxie’s life.” The doctor paused. “But even with that we still ran into some trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Tabitha asked.

The doctor looked at Tabitha. “Leader Maxie has had a stroke.”


	3. Chapter 3

Tabitha felt that icy trickle turn into an iceberg. He suddenly wished that he hadn’t eaten. A million questions flew around in his head. Leader Maxie had a stroke? Was he going to be okay? How much damage did it cause? He sensed motion to his right and saw Courtney sink to her knees, a terrified look on her usually placid features.

“Don’t panic!” Dr. Brody said quickly, “It’s minor, very, very minor. We have everything under control and we’re keeping track of all of his vital signs. If everything goes OK, he should be back on his feet in a week or two.”

“Or two?! That doesn’t sound minor, Brody!” Tabitha snarled.

“Shh!!” Dr. Brody brought a finger to his lips, “Sir, please, keep your voice down. Normally he’d be awake by now, but due to his current body state we’ve had to keep him sedated.”

“Current… body state?” Courtney asked, her face regaining its composure.

Dr. Brody reached over to the counter and picked up a clipboard. “Let’s see…” he paused as he rifled through the pages, “malnourished, dehydrated, exhausted, 30 pounds underweight, his smoking puts Mount Chimney to shame, high blood pressure, anemia, poor circulation, vitamin deficiencies across the board, and a partridge in a pear tree. Any one of these things by themselves would have him in here. I personally think that keeping him sedated would give his body a chance to heal. Not only that, we can keep an IV in him at all times and maybe we can fix a few of these problems.”

“What’s a… partridge?” Courtney asked.

“That’s not important right now.” Tabitha answered. He turned to the doctor, “If he had all that, how on Earth was he still able to do anything?”

“The mind is a very powerful thing, Sir.” The doctor responded. “It has the ability to go on even if the body is weak or failing. Leader Maxie’s passion and drive are some of the most powerful I’ve ever seen. However, I think that his body had finally had enough.”

The doctor stood and walked over and gripped the curtain. “Would you like to see him?”

Tabitha quickly stood up and moved to the door.”That won’t be necessary, Dr. Brody. Good evening.” he said shutting the door behind him.

“You… IDIOT!! ” Tabitha shouted as he exited the sick bay. He drove his left fist into the wall, cracking the plaster. His nails dug into his palms leaving red half-circles. ‘How could you let this happen to Leader Maxie?’ He inwardly cursed himself ‘What kind of admin are you?’

“Tabitha…?” Courtney placed a hand on his shoulder. Tabitha didn’t respond. “Leader Maxie… will be okay. Dr. Brody has an… accuracy rate of… 93%. His diagnosis is… trustworthy.”

Tabitha seethed. Blood was starting to run from his split knuckles, staining his glove. “That’s not the point, Courtney!” He finally yelled. “The point is that I’m the reason he’s in there! I was foolish! I was daft! I let him do this to himself! And all because of that, Leader Maxie had a stroke! He’s in a coma! He might never be the same! I-I-IT’S UNFORGIVABLE!!” He rammed his left fist into the wall again, the plaster coming off of the wall this time. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said straightening up, “there’s still so much work to be done.” Tabitha walked quickly down the hall, a few droplets of blood marking his path.

“I… don’t think…” Courtney said “you should have… anymore coffee…”

******************

Tabitha sat at the drafting desk. He’d just gotten to his design work after finishing everything on Maxie’s list. He looked at the clock: 3am. An involuntary groan escaped his lips.   
“I’m so tired… I just want to go to bed…” he moaned.

“Then maybe you should, sir.” A voice sounded behind him.

“Shouldn’t you be taking care of Leader Maxie, Brody?” Tabitha hissed.

Dr. Brody chuckled from the doorway of the design room. “My job is to take care of Team Magma’s sick and injured. And you happen to be the latter.” Noticing Tabitha’s scowl he added, “I promise Leader Maxie is in safe hands. Our night staff is excellent and I have all his vital signs on this device.” He held up a tablet with numbers and a heart monitor flashing. “Now,” he said gently, “how about you let me take a look at that hand?”

Tabitha glanced down at his left hand. Even through the thick glove he noticed swelling. “I’m fine,” he mumbled, “Just go back to taking care of Leader Maxie.”  
Dr. Brody sighed. “I swear,” he said taking a seat next to Tabitha, “sometimes you are more stubborn than Maxie. Let me see.” Brody gently peeled the glove off Tabitha’s swollen hand. Tabitha hissed as the fabric pulled at dried blood. As the fabric moved away, fresh blood began to trickle. “Ouch,” Brody remarked, “this isn’t good. Hmm… I’m going to need you to come back to the sick bay with me so I can properly treat this.”

Tabitha jerked his hand back. “N-no! I have far too much work to get done. This can wait until tomorrow.”

“Very well then,” he said standing, “I suppose an infection will understand your predicament and schedule at a time that’s convenient for you.”

Tabitha growled and slammed his pencil down on the table. ‘Damn that man!’ “Fine, Brody! You win!”

“I knew you would see reason, sir.” Brody smiled.

‘Great’ Tabitha thought as he was ushered into a medical chair, 'third time in hell today. Must be a new record.’ He leaned back. Brody was talking with a young man and placing different items on a tray. The chair, usually used for dental examinations, had been fitted with a steel table top on its left side. Tabitha shuddered at the coldness when his arm was set upon it.

“Don’t worry sir,” Brody said as he sat across from Tabitha, “this’ll be over soon.” Brody examined Tabitha’s hand then reached to the tray of supplies his assistant carried. Tabitha closed his eyes. ‘Don’t pick up a needle, don’t pick up a needle, don’t pick up a needle.’ He thought. His eyes shot back open when the smell of rubbing alcohol hit his nose. ‘Oh dear Arceus…’

Dr. Brody looked up and saw Tabitha turn a deathly shade of pale. He mumbled something to his assistant then placed a miniature version of a surgical curtain over the injured hand effectively blocking it from Tabitha’s view. “There, there, sir.” he said gently, “I’m very good at what I do. You won’t feel a thing, I promise.” The assistant returned with a cold rag, placed it on Tabitha’s forehead, then leaned the seat back. Tabitha relaxed a bit as the coolness seeped into his body. He felt some pressure on his hand and heard Brody say 

“There we go.” under his breath. He sat up a little. “What? Whadjoo do-?” Tabitha felt as if a warm fog had enveloped his head. Warm tingling replaced the cool feelings he felt prior. “Oohh…” He laid his head back down. He opened his heavy eyelids to see Brody talking to his assistant. Brody noticed Tabitha staring and smiled as he put a finger to his lips. “Go to sleep, sir. You’ve earned it.”

********************

Tabitha groaned. He’d never felt groggier in his life but he forced himself up. He’d already rolled over and gone back to sleep four times and no doubt it was already late in the morning. He stretched and felt a stiffness on his left wrist and hand.

“What in the world?” he asked. A red cast had been placed where the damage was yesterday.

“Oh, that! We had to do a minor procedure but everything went fine!” Brody stood in the doorway with two trays. “Are you hungry, sir? I thought we could have lunch together.”

“Actually, yes, quite.” Tabitha responded as his stomach growled. “Did you say lunch… and procedure?”

Dr. Brody handed Tabitha a tray. “Yes. It seems we both slept in today. And when I looked a bit further, it seemed that you had broken two bones in your hand. I had to reposition some pieces so it would heal properly.” Dr. Brody lifted the lid of his tray revealing a panini and tomato soup. “Beautiful!” he said, “Didn’t you say you were hungry?”  
Tabitha lifted the lid. Fettuccine Alfredo with peppers and garlic bread. “Oh, yes, this will do nicely.”  
Phenomenal. The food in Team Magma was always in a world of its own. Using methods that they had developed, they could grow fruits and vegetables in half the time and double the taste. Everything was always fresh. They ate in silence a bit until Tabitha asked something that had been bothering him.

“How exactly did you know that I—”

“Miss Courtney told me you might need some assistance.” Dr. Brody answered wiping his mouth. “She, ah, also told me some of what you said during your outburst.”  
Suddenly all the emotions Tabitha had felt yesterday came flooding back. He gripped his fork a little tighter.

“Look, sir, I know I don’t know you that well,” the doctor said, “and I know I’m pretty far beneath you in rank but I would appreciate it if you would listen to what I have to say.”  
Tabitha glared at the doctor.

“You cannot blame yourself for what happened to Leader Maxie.”

“The whole reason he’s in here is because of me…” Tabitha groaned.

“ Oh, yes, clumsy me! I must have forgotten!” the doctor said sarcastically. “I forgot that you’re the one who made him smoke. You’re the one who never let him eat. You’re the one who—”

“I MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN!” Tabitha shouted. He threw his fork towards the doctor who barely dodged it in time. “EVEN IF I NEVER FORCED HIM, I CERTAINLY NEVER STOPPED HIM! I NEVER SAID ‘THAT’S ENOUGH CIGARETTES FOR TODAY’! I NEVER SAID ‘HEY, YOU NEED TO EAT SOMETHING’! NEVER!! NOT ONE TIME!!” Tabitha put his head in his hands.

“You cannot control a fully grown man. Especially one such as Leader Maxie. Even if you said those things, he never would have listened—” “HE MIGHT NEVER BE THE SAME!! HE COULD LOSE HIS ABILITY TO WALK OR TALK!! HE COULD DIE!” The doctor put his tray aside and put a hand on Tabitha’s shoulder. “Leader Maxie won’t die from this. If he keeps up his lifestyle, however, that’s a different story.” The doctor leaned forward. “Leader Maxie is a stubborn and relentless man. He’s also blind to what he’s doing to himself.” The doctor sighed and leaned back, hand moving to his forehead. “If this is anyone’s fault, it’s mine.” Tabitha looked up. “I haven’t been strict enough. Instead of giving orders, I’ve been giving suggestions. I haven’t been doing my job properly…”

The two men were silent for a few minutes. “Well, I suppose it can’t be helped.” The doctor finally said. “We can’t fix the past but we can help the future. I’m going to make up for my past failures. I plan on being a completely different doctor when Maxie wakes up.What about you, sir? What are your plans for the next two weeks—”

He paused.

“… Leader Tabitha?


End file.
